Vixen
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Oh and if you have any requests for this story, please do feel free to let me know.
Naruko talking to Kyuubi in bold.
Kyuubi talking to Naruko in bold italics.
Chapter Notation: I did decide to add a villain to the story, but at the moment I'm still leaning towards a mostly humorous story.
Chapter 7
A few hours later, Naruko notices that Sasuke was definitely still on edge. That was saying something because he was usually tense to begin with. She bites her lower lip and looks at Ayaki.
He seemed like a nice guy. She couldn't imagine who would want to actually hurt the eccentric Lord. Then again, he was probably worth a lot of money. Robbers and kidnappers would have a go at almost anyone, especially if they were wealthy. The fact that he was dressed to extravagantly meant that he was unintentionally putting a target on his back.
"Maybe we should stop and get you into some of Sasuke's clothes, Lord Ayaki." Naruko suggests.
"Why should I change into his clothes? Mine are fine." He asks in confusion.
Sasuke sighs and tries his best not to roll his eyes. Nobles could be a rather clueless class. He couldn't believe that these were the type of people calling the shots from behind the scene. He was damn glad he was a ninja and not that oblivious.
"Your clothes are really expensive looking. Any bandit that sees you in that is going to want to have a go at you." Sasuke says, realizing where Naruko was going with her request.
"Ohhh. I never thought of it that way." Ayaki replies.
He couldn't help but glance at Sasuke. The man was a ninja. Ayaki wasn't sure that the Uchiha's clothes would even fit on him. Despite that, he knew that he had a much better chance of fitting into Sasuke's clothes than Naruko's.
"That's what they are counting on. There's a village not far from here. We can stop there for the night and you can change at the inn." He says.
"How do you know the village has an inn?" Naruko asks.
"It'd have to be a really small village, if it didn't." Sasuke reasons.
Naruko thinks about it for a minute and then nods her head in agreement. Yeah there was probably an inn or someplace that they could stay the night in.
Sasuke turned out to be right about the town. It didn't take them long to arrive there or to find an Inn. The Uchiha smiles as Naruko gets them checked in and he watches Ayaki.
"I remember when my wife and I were like that. When we couldn't take our eyes off each other. We still can't really." He says conversationally.
"That's good." The raven haired ninja replies, feeling rather awkward.
He really didn't want to discuss his relationship with the Noble. He seemed friendly enough, but Sasuke had always been a private person. Well at least he was a private person outside of his Clan. That just came with the territory of being an Uchiha.
He wasn't sure if his family was just genetically predisposed towards being introverts or if it was the product of their environment. Either way, he supposed it didn't matter. He was never going to be type to enjoy gossiping with someone that he barely knew.
"Alright. I got us two rooms. I figure that Sasuke's clone can stay with Ayaki." The blonde says, after a few minutes.
"Of course. It's just down the hall anyway." Ayaki agrees amiably.
Well at least he was a nice Noble. Sasuke knew that he likely would have lost his temper a long time ago, if it wasn't for that. He just didn't have much patience for pampered Nobles.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He says as he forms a clone and the clone escorts the Nobleman to his room.
"Well that takes care of the Nobleman. Now you and your Mate can sort things out." Kurama says.
Naruko blushes at that. They still had some kissing and making up to do. She couldn't believe that she had blamed Sasuke like that. The blonde should have known that Sasuke wasn't doing it on purpose. That wasn't like him.
"You still should have told me that he didn't do it on purpose! That was evil!" The blue eyed ninja exclaims.
Kurama smirks and laughs inside her head. Having such a young host was full of advantages and disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages was hormones. A frisky young ninja meant that he ended up being one frustrated fox demon. On the bright side, it was quite amusing to taunt her and Naruko made it so easy.
"You should learn to trust your Mate more. It's not my fault that you didn't take his word for it." Kurama says smugly as he retreats further back into her mind.
"Damn fox!" She growls.
Sasuke tilts his head to the side curiously. It looked like Naruko was talking to herself. He knew better though. She must be communicating with the Nine Tails.
"Naruko, you alright?" Her future husband inquires cautiously.
"Yeah. I'm fine. It just sucks sometimes to have a sneaky fox inside your head!" The blonde exclaims.
"I don't even know how to respond to that. Come on. Let's get some sleep." Sasuke says as he places his arm around her waist and leads her to their room.
She shivers. One thing was for sure, Sasuke definitely wasn't shy. He didn't seem to have any problem with kissing or holding her. Though she wasn't really sure if either of them were ready for more than that.
"Yeah. I feel the same way. Sometimes Kurama can be really out there." The blonde replies as Sasuke locks the door behind them.
"I've always been curious about that. Is it painful having him inside you? How does he even fit?" Sasuke asks.
"Quiet! Kurama! I know where your perverted mind is going!" Naruko grumbles at the fox and she hears laughter in the back of her head.
"It doesn't hurt. I'm not really sure on that last part." She answers him.
"Makes sense. We're going to need a safe word by the way." Sasuke says as he tugs his Jonin vest off.
"S-afe word?!" Naruko stammers as she watches Sasuke partially strip.
Sasuke nods. A safe word was necessary. They were still too close to the Sound Village for his liking. He knew that those ninjas were fully capable of Transformation Jutsus. They might try to impersonate one of them or even Ayaki.
"That way we'll know if there's an imposter. The Transformation Jutsu can be rather convincing." Sasuke reasons.
"Ohhh. Right. The safe word can be ramen!" She says brightly.
Sasuke shakes his head in amusement. Naruko was Naruko. In some ways, she was the most unpredictable woman that he had ever met. In other ways, she was the most predictable woman that he'd ever met. It was quite the paradox.
"Fine. The safe word can be ramen." Sasuke agrees with a quiet snort.
Meanwhile back in the Leaf, Itachi raises an eyebrow. His father was hunched over a rather thick scroll. Clearly, Fugaku Uchiha was concentrating rather hard on something. Naturally, this aroused Itachi's curiosity.
"Father, what are you doing?" He asks and the Uchiha Patriarch jumps about ten feet into the air.
"Itachi! Don't sneak up on me in such an undignified fashion!" The older man snaps at him.
Itachi had never seen his father jump like that before. Something was definitely going on. Something big.
"A ninja must expect the unexpected. It doesn't matter whether it was dignified or not. You should have been more aware of your surroundings and then I wouldn't have startled you." The smoky eyed ninja reasons.
Fugaku raises an eyebrow. It was much easier to be a father when your children were young enough not to question you. Now Itachi was old enough to sass him.
Sadly, he couldn't be too angry with Itachi. Goodness knows that he had been even worse to his own father at that age. That and he knew that his son was just teasing him. There was no malice in it.
"I'll concede that you have raised a valid point." He sighs.
"Good. Now, what are you doing that is making you so jumpy. It's really not like you to behave like that." He inquires.
The Uchiha Patriarch frowns as he considers his answer. He hadn't even spoken to Mikoto about this yet. That meant that Itachi would have to keep this a secret. Otherwise his kitten was going to morph into a tigress and she was probably going to use HIM as her personal scratching post.
"I was looking at the various listings for homes. Sasuke and Naruko are getting married. I think that it would be a good idea for them to have their own home, much like you and Izumi. Newlyweds do need their privacy." Fugaku replies.
Itachi couldn't really argue with that. He knew that Izumi certainly wouldn't have been happy, if they had to live in the same house as his parents. She would have done so, if he asked her. He hadn't though. They had found another house in the Uchiha District.
"Ah that makes sense. I don't see why that would cause you to become so jumpy though. Well not unless you were planning on getting them a house outside the District. Wait. You aren't, are you?" Itachi asks suspiciously.
"I was going to speak to Minato about it. A large reason why things have gotten so bad is because we are isolated. If Naruko and Sasuke have their own home with the rest of the villagers, it might help things." Fugaku defends himself.
"Perhaps. I'm glad that I'm not going to be the one to explain that to mother though. I doubt she'll be too pleased when she hears that news." He says.
Fugaku gulps. That was what he was afraid of. His wife was a sweet woman, but she was an Uchiha. All Uchihas had a fiery temper when pushed too far.
"Well nothing is finalized yet. I still need to speak to Minato and of course get your brother's opinion on the matter." He says.
"Of course. I still wouldn't want to be in your sandals when you tell her though." Itachi says with a smirk as he heads off.
Mikoto chooses that moment to walk into the living room and blinks when she saw Itachi. Her son looked entirely too pleased with herself and her husband looked panicked.
"What's going on?" She demands and places her hands on her hips.
"Itachi and I were just discussing the wedding. Itachi is of the opinion that Sasuke will desire a Bachelor Party. I'm not inclined to agree." Fugaku says.
That wasn't technically a lie. They had discussed that earlier. That just wasn't what they were discussing now.
"I see. Well he has always been a little on the shy side." Mikoto says thoughtfully and her husband nods in agreement.
Thank goodness. He had managed to stall for time. He still wasn't entirely certain how he was going to explain his housing idea to her yet. Fugaku would come up with something though. He had to.
Meanwhile Sasuke was curled up on the bed next to his future wife. He had decided that it was probably a good idea for them to actually have a conversation that involved something other than fighting or kissing. He enjoyed both of those activities with her, but a marriage had to be built on more than just that. (He was still definitely planning on kissing and making up later though.)
"So you always wanted to be Hokage? You never thought of anything else?" He asks as he runs his fingers through her long golden locks.
He smirks at the knowledge she had finally lost those damn pigtails. If nothing else, he took that as a good sign. She did listen to him. Well she listened to him at least once in a Blue Moon.
"Mmm not really. It was always Hokage for me. What about you?" She asks.
"I guess I'm the same way. It was just a foregone conclusion that one day I'd join the Military Police Force." He admits.
"Because of who your family is." She says and Sasuke nods.
Idly, he wonders what she was wearing under that nightgown of hers. Was it still orange lace? Maybe it'd be another color. If she could make orange look good, Naruko could make anything look good.
"Yeah. It's pretty much assumed." Sasuke says.
"That's a little creepy. I mean you had your whole life mapped out for you because of what your last name is." The blonde beauty says.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. While that was to a degree true, he didn't like the way that it sounded. It was like she was implying that he wasn't happy with his path. He was just fine with it.
"And how is that any different than you? You want to be Hokage because your father is Hokage. I want to be on the Military Police Force because my father was. We're not that different." The raven haired ninja mutters a bit bitterly.
"Awe. Don't' be like that bastard! I didn't mean to insult you or anything like that." She says.
The Uchiha shakes his head and sighs. Naruko was Naruko. He doubted she even knew the way that it had come off.
"I'm part of the Police Force because I want to be, not because they forced me into it." He says.
"I believe you. Besides, I don't mind. I mean you're less likely to die in combat this way and there could be some perks to it really!" She says.
Sasuke wasn't even sure that he entirely wanted to know, but he decides to ask anyway. Curiosity killed the cat and the Uchiha it seemed. He figured that he was going to regret this, but that didn't stop him.
"And what perks might those be?" He inquires.
Before Naruko could answer, suddenly they both heard screaming. Lord Ayaki was screaming his head off. They both blink and rush out of their room to help the Nobleman.
That's when they saw what was going on. A couple Sound Villagers had somehow snuck into the Inn and were trying to grab the Lord. Sasuke's clone was fighting them though.
"Naruko, I want you to grab him and run. I can handle them. I'll catch up with you later." Sasuke says.
"Are you crazy?! I'm not going to leave you behind!" She snaps at him.
"Don't argue with me! Just do it!" Sasuke growls at her.
Sighing Naruko rushes over to Ayaki and grabs his hand, flickering off. Sasuke sighs in relief. At least Naruko and their charge would be safe. He could handle a couple Sound Villagers.
"Oh you're going to regret that. That wasn't smart. Now it's two against one. That was a really stupid move kid." One of them says.
"What was stupid was the two of you thinking that you could outclass two Leaf Ninjas." Sasuke says as he activates the Sharingan and lunges at them.
That's when one of the ninjas smirks. A Sharingan! Ha! What luck. They had been planning on taking the Nobleman for ransom. He'd be worth a pretty penny, but this was even better.
He just had to get a genetic sample and then they could go back to the Sound. It'd be even better, if he could capture the Uchiha. Unfortunately, that didn't seem likely.
Thankfully, his partner was dimwitted. He didn't realize what a golden opportunity had just landed in their lap. That meant he was going all out. The Uchiha would think this was a real fight.
"LIONS BARRAGE!" Sasuke snarls as he slams his feet and arms into the other man.
Bunta winces at the sounds of the crunching bones. This kid had a lot of power behind his punch, but it was his DNA he was really after. He smirks and sneaks up behind Sasuke, grabbing a piece of his hair.
The Uchiha whirls around and slams a kunai into his lung. It was only his slight dodge that prevented the weapon from piercing his heart. It didn't matter though because Bunta had gotten what he wanted. A genetic sample.
"Damn you!" The other Sound Villager says as he teleports off after his comrade.
"That was easy. Suspiciously so." Sasuke mutters as he rushes off towards Naruko and Ayaki.
"Naruko! Ayaki!" He calls out desperately.
Naruko saw Sasuke, but she stands in front of Ayaki anyway. She didn't really know if that was Sasuke yet. Her almost husband had made a good point earlier. They had to be careful. A Sound Villager could easily impersonate them.
"What's the safe word?" She demands.
Sasuke smiles. That was something. Naruko remembered their safe word. It was a good thing that she did. He could have been a Sound Villager for all she knew.
"Ramen. I'm still not sure why you are so obsessed with that stuff. UMPF!" Sasuke says as the blonde tackle hugs him to the ground.
"Naruko?" He asks uncertainly.
"I'm just really glad you're okay. You had me scared there for a minute, bastard. You could have gotten yourself killed!" She scolds him.
Sasuke shakes his head in amusement. He was glad that she cared, but a little less glad that she apparently didn't have much faith in his skills. She should have know that he could handle himself.
"Naruko, the day that I can't handle a couple of Orochimaru's rejects, is the day that I'm dead. I'm fine. Really. Come on. Let's go." He replies and Naruko nods in agreement.
"I'm so glad you are alright." Ayaki says as he looks down at Sasuke from his position on top of the horse.
Sasuke sighs in relief. Naruko had remembered to get the horses. That would make things easier. With any luck, they'd be in the Land of Lightning soon.
"Thanks. I'm glad you're alright too. Let's get going." He says as he mounts his horse and Naruko does the same, before they ride off.
Meanwhile back in the Sound Village, Bunta screams for a medic. Fortunately, Kabuto heard his cries. The silver haired ninja quickly sets about healing the injured ninja.
"What the Hell happened?" He demands.
"We saw a rich Nobleman. Our plan was to grab him and make his loved ones pay up for his safe return. We didn't realize that he had two ninjas guarding him. One of them grabbed the Noble and left. The other stayed behind and fought us." Ginata says.
Kabuto raises an eyebrow. That was bad luck. Sadly, that wasn't to be unexpected. They really should have taken better stock of their situation before charging in like that. It had been stupid
"You got damn lucky that you weren't killed. A kunai through the lung could have easily been fatal." Kabuto scolds his patient.
Bunta wasn't in any position to protest. He could hardly defend himself while the medic was healing his badly injured lung. If he opened his mouth to protest, all that would happen would be that he would start coughing up blood.
"That's the thing though. The man was an Uchiha!" Ginata continues.
That caught the medic's attention. Hmm. An Uchiha. Now that was certainly interesting.
Orochimaru had been fascinated by that Clan's eyes for a long time. Who wouldn't be. The Uchihas and the Hyugas certainly had the most impressive visual bloodlines, after the Rinnegan.
"Why didn't you bring him back?!" He snaps at the other ninja.
Ginata was just cannon fodder. Occasionally, you had to recruit pawns. Pawns that could be sacrificed later on. That was why the large man was part of the Sound Village. Orochimaru realized the values of pawns.
That didn't mean that Kabuto had to like him. The sooner he got killed off, the better in the medic's mind. For now, he had to play nice though.
"Because that freak got in some cheap hits. That and he stabbed Bunta. Bunta had to teleport off for treatment. So I left with him." He explains.
He was surrounded by idiots. Orochimaru usually had exceptional taste. That was the case with every one of his ninjas, except for the cannon fodder. Damn it.
"Hair." Bunta says as he hacks up some blood.
Kabuto smirks. Buna wasn't much better than Ginata. Still he was the more intelligent between the two of them. At least he had the brains to grab a genetic sample. He could work with this.
"Good work. Lord Orochimaru will be pleased with you." He say as he continues healing the other man.
That was most certainly true. This hair might very well be the key to Orochimaru unlocking immortality. They just had to bide their time and see, if that would indeed turn out to be the case.
"Kabuto, what is going on?" Orochimaru demands as he walks over to them.
Orchimaru was growing weaker by the day. The silver haired medic really didn't think that he should be out and about. Lord Orochimaru was a determined man though. He had a reputation to uphold.
That was why he stubbornly insisted on pretending that he wasn't as ill as he truly was. In a way, Kabuto admired his persistence. On the other hand, he was also deeply worried about he Sannin's health.
"It seems that our two friends here had an encounter with an Uchiha. That's why I had to heal Bunta's lungs. Bunta had the foresight to grab some of the Uchiha's hair though." The medic explains with a smirk.
Orochimaru's eyes widen in surprise. Who would have thought that these two idiots would prove so useful? There were a lot of things that he could do with a hair from the Uchiha.
"Excellent work. Kabuto, come. We have a lot of work to do." Orochimaru says as he walks off.
His loyal servant nods in agreement. He glances at Bunta and decides that the other man's condition was no longer fatal, so he quickly follows Orochimaru. After all, this was far more important than the welfare of two low-level goons.
"What are you planning, My Lord?" He asks.
"You'll see." Orochimaru says with a smirk as he hands Kabuto a scroll.
Kabuto quickly glances at hit and his eyes widen when he reads what it says. Was that even possible? Orochimaru seemed to think that it was.
"Has this ever been done successfully before?" He asks.
"Not that I'm aware of. There is a first time for everything though. No great discovery was ever made by playing it safe. Let's get started." He says with a smirk.